Meet the Mad Hatter!

NG Kids wanders into the strange world of magical new 3D movie, Alice In Wonderland, and has a cup of tea with the film’s Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp…

NG Kids Hi Johnny! We love the new movie. Did you read Alice In Wonderland when you were a kid?
Johnny Yes, I read the book when I was younger and I saw the Disney cartoon, too. What I remember more than anything was the brilliant characters like the Mad Hatter, the Red Queen, and Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee – they’re all great!

NG Kids You’re American, so did you find it difficult to do the Mad Hatter’s Scottish accent in the film?
Johnny No – it was fun! I like playing around with accents, and a strong Scottish accent seemed right for the Hatter. I wanted him to be quite dark and dangerous, so this voice seemed to fit!

NG Kids The Hatter has a pretty mad look…
Johnny He does! Before we started to make the film, I did some sketches and watercolours of how I thought he should look, and so did the director Tim Burton, and we came up with something really similar. The Hatter is quite extreme – he goes from being very happy to very sad – and we wanted a look to match his character.

NG Kids You wear hats a lot – even when you’re not in movies…
Johnny Oh yeah… I LOVE hats! I have quite a lot of them…

NG Kids Alice finds herself in a pretty strange dream-world in the movie. Do you have strange dreams?
Johnny Sometimes I do! My dreams can be pretty weird – I’ve had dreams about being chased through the streets of Hollywood before…!

NG Kids The Mad hatter is a pretty crazy guy, but who’s the maddest person you know?
Johnny Ha, ha! I think it’s definitely the movie’s director, Tim Burton! Not many people are crazier than him – he’s definitely my favourite mad person!

NG Kids Thanks Johnny – I think the Mad Hatter is OURS!

Alice In Wonderland is in cinemas from 5 March.

Wonderland Who’s Who?

Can you name these Alice In Wonderland characters from their descriptions

  1. She’s fiery red and shouts “Off with their head!”
  2. He likes to drink tea and is mad as can be!
  3. He’s ever-so-late, so we’re afraid he can’t wait!
  4. He loves to hide, but his smile is so wide!
  5. Seek and you’ll find these two of a kind!
  6. She eats to grow tall and drinks to grow small!

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